Former QPR and Manchester City star Stan Bowles has died at the age of 75 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.
Bowles who was seen as one of the finest talents in England during his time as a player, thrilled fans with his maverick edge, was diagnosed with the neurological disease in 2015.
In 2017 his former club QPR arranged a testimonial with Bournemouth to raise funds for Bowles and his fight with the disease and also set up a Go Fund Me page.
Sadly, his situation deteriorated and later moved into full-time care in 2020, having been living with his daughter Andrea in Manchester.
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In a statement released on the club website, QPR confirmed the news, as they said: ‘It is with a heavy heart we have learned that QPR icon Stan Bowles sadly passed away this evening (Saturday), aged 75.
‘Bowles had a stand named after him at QPR’s Loftus Road stadium in 2022.
All our thoughts are with his family and friends at this incredibly difficult time. May he rest in peace.
‘The club will be confirming how we will be paying a fitting tribute to Stan in due course.
The statement continued: ‘A darling of the Loftus Road terraces, Stanley Bowles is undoubtedly one of the greatest players to have ever pulled on the famous blue and white hoops. Many would argue that he is the best.
Back in 2021, former QPR team-mate Don Shanks said of Bowles’ Alzheimer’s: ‘People always ask, “Do you think he remembers you?”, but the truth is you don’t really know.
‘You think about a half of football, well sitting there with Stan is the hardest 45 minutes of your life. There is very little communication. There are no sentences. It is mono-syllabic.
‘I didn’t know anyone who had that condition until Stan had it. Until you know someone who has got it, you have no idea what this does to people and what this does to families – how all of a sudden their lives are totally, absolutely shattered.
‘There is no good news, there is no reversal, there is no cure. It just gets slowly worse. It is soul destroying for everybody involved.’
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Bowles spent much of his playing career with QPR after joining from Carlisle United for £110,000 in 1972, playing 255 times for the Hoops and scoring 70 times.
He took on the fabled No 10 shirt often avoided to avoid comparisons with iconic star Rodney Marsh and went on to be voted the club’s greatest player of all time in a 2004 fans poll.